Valve-grab.



No. 67|,6|7. Patented Apr. 9, |90I.

' A. A. YACKEE.

VALVE GRAB.

(Application fild May 31, 1900.1

(un uanl'oz AUGUST ADAM YACKEE, OF ROBERTS, ILLINOIS.

VALVE-G RAB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,617, dated April 9,1901.

Appnmtm tied May 31, 1900. serial No. 18,621. ino moda.)

To all wwnt it may concern:

Be it known that I, AAUGUST ADAM YACKEE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Roberts, in the county of Ford and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Valve- Grab, of which the following isaspecification.

My invention relates to a novel valvegrab, which term is employed as adesignation of that type of tools employed for the purpose of recoveringfoot-valves from Artesian or other wells.

In order that the utility of my grab may be more apparent, it may bepremised that in Artesian and certain other types of wells a pump tubeor casing of great length and small diameter is sunk to a considerabledepth, and at a greater or less distance from its lower end is located afoot-valve which is not attached to the Working valve and the otheroperative parts of the pump, but is designed to rise for the purpose ofpermitting the elevation of water or oil and to drop back into its seatin the manner of an ordinary checkvalve when downward pressure isexerted upon it by the downward stroke of the working valve. In courseof time it becomes necessary to recover and remove the foot-valve, thenecessity for this recovery or removal being brought about by variouscircumstances, which are well known in the art and which need nottherefore be detailed at this time. The recovery of the foot-valve isrendered more or less difficult by an accumulation of sand above it, andit is sometimes practically impossible to recover the foot-valve untilafter the obstructing sand has been removed in some well-known manner.

The object of my invention is to provide a grab or grapple having meansfor removing the sand to uncover the valve and a grappling devicedesigned to engage the bail or other part of the valve to effect itswithdrawal from the pump-casing.

To this end the invention consists in constructing the grab of a heavytubular section compressed at diametrically opposite points in alongitudinal line for a suicient distance from its lower end to form apair of jet-noz- Zles, below and between which are disposed a pair ofgrappling-hooks having spring-shanks riveted or otherwise permanentlysecured at their upper ends to the fiattened portion of the tubular bodyof the grab. The upper end of the tubular shank is provided with avalve-seat for the reception of a check-valve retained in place by acoupling-sleeve screwed upon the upper end of the tubular shanl; tofacilitate the attachment of a line of hose or pipe, which is carriedbeyond the upper end of the pump-casing and is connected with hydraulicapparatus designed to project jets of water from the nozzles for thepurpose of loosening the valve or to exert a suction tending to draw thesand through the tubular shank and pipe for the purpose of uncoveringthe foot-Valve, and thereby permitting the grappling-hooks to engagewith and remove the latter.

The invention further consists in certain details of construction andarrangement hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and succinctly defined in the claims.

In said drawings, Figure l is a sectional View through a portion of anArtesian well, illustrating the application of my device. Fig. 2 is aperspective View of the valve-grab detached. Fig. 3 is a centrallongitudinal sectional view thro ugh the grab detached, and Fig. /iis atransverse sectional view on the line t 4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designatecorresponding parts in the several views, l indicates an ordinaryArtesian or oil well tube, between two sections of which is located, asusual, the foot-block 2, having an axial opening 3 for the reception ofthe foot-valve 4, which is ordinarily provided upon its upper end with aloop or bail 5, designed for the purpose of facilitating the engagementof a tool to eEect the removal of the foot-valve.

6 and 7 indicate a pair of opposed grappling-hooks formed at the lowerends of a pair of spring-Shanks 8 and 9 and having terminal beaks, theopposed faces 10 and ll of which are beveled or curved in oppositedirections to provide an intermediate throat for the reception of thebail 5 and to facilitate the automatic separation of the grappling-hooksby the bail 5 when the device is lowered into the well-casing. The upperend of the spring-Shanks 8 and 9 are secured, as by rivets l2, to theopposite flattened sides ICO of a tubular grab-shank 13, compressedalong diametrically -oppos'ed longitudinal lines ay considerabledistance from the lower end of the shank for the purpose of' forming apair of nozzles 14 and 15, discharging at opposite sides of thegrappling device or hooks and designed for the purpose of projectingjets of water under hydraulic pressure in the direction of the valve andat diametrically opposite sides of the well-casing for the purposeofveffectually loosening the sand and uncovering the bail 5 of thefoot-valve 4 to permit the engagement therewith of the grapplinghooks 6and 7. The tubular upper end of the shank 13 is therefore provided withthreads 16 for the reception of an internally-threaded coupling-sleeve17, designed to facilitate the coupling to the grab of a line of hose orpipe 18, extending to a point above the well,wh ere itis placed incommunication with some usual form of hydraulic pumping mechanismdesigned to supply the Water under pressure for deliveryinthe region ofthefoot-valve from the nozzles 14 and 15 of the grab-shank. Under someconditions, however, it. may be desirable instead of effecting theloosening of the foot-valve vby projected jets of water under pressureto remove the sand by suction from above the valve. In the latter event-a spherical check-valve 19 is placed within the coupling-sleeve 17 tobe seated upon la valve-seat 20, formed in the upper end of the shank13, and confined within proper limits of movement bya diametrical bar21, secured within the coupling-sleeve 17 and constituting, in effect, avalve-cage. With the valve in place, as illustrated in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, the hydraulic pumping machinery is reorganized in an obviousmanner for the purpose of producing a suction through the pipe 18 andthrough the tubular shank of the grab, the eect of this being to drawthe sand into the grab-shank through the nozzles 14 and 15, which inthis embodiment of the invention become induction-ports, and, havingbeen carried into the pipe 1S above the grab, the

return of the sand to the interior of the pumpcasing is prevented by thevalve 19.

Whether the sand above the foot-valve is removed by a hydraulic jet orby suction, it will be obvious that as soon as the bail 5 of Said valveis uncovered the inclined faces 10 and 11 of the hook-beaks will bepresented to the bail by the weight of the grab and its connected parts,causing the grappling-hook to open for the reception of the bail, whichwill then be firmly engaged by the approach below the bail of thegrappling-hooks under the impulse of the shanks Sand 9, after which vthevalve may be withdrawn by the withthe right to effect such changes,modifications,

and variations as may be properly comprehended within the scope of theprotection prayed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a valve-grab, the combination with a grappling device, of aplurality of nozzles disposed in the general direction of the grapplingdevice and in effective proximity thereto to facilitate the engagementof a valve by the grappling device, and means for establishingcommunication between said nozzles and a source of fluid-supply.

2. Avalve-grabcomprisingatnbularshank having a plurality of nozzles atits lower end, and a grappling device located below, and intermediateof, said nozzles, to engage a valve uncovered by aluid circulationdirected through the nozzles.

` 3. Avalve-grabcomprisingatubularshank flattened at diametricallyopposite points to dei ne a pair of discharge-nozzles at the lower endsof said shanks, and a pair of opposed grappling-hooks located below thelower end of the tubular shank and having spring- Shanks permanentlyconnected to the fiattened portions of the tubular shank of the grab.

4. A valve-grab comprisinga tubular shank [iattened at diametricallyopposite points to define a pair of nozzles at one end of the shank, apair of spring-Shanks permanently fastened to the flattened portions ofthe tubnlarsliank and provided at their lower ends with grappling-hookshaving opposed beaks,a couplingsleeve screwed upony the upper end of thetubular shank, and a gravity-valve retained within the sleeve anddesigned to be-seated upon the upper end of said tubular shank.

In testimony that I claim-the foregoing as my ownI have hereto affixedmy signature in 4 the presence of two witnesses;

AUGUST ADAM YACKEE. Witnesses:

W. H. YACKEE, GEO. F. ROBERTS.

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